There are many reasons why members of the CSCW community cannot, or choose not to, attend CSCW in person. These include visa challenges, geopolitical dynamics, environmental impact of travel, cost of travel, family responsibilities, and many, many others. All of these reasons make it necessary to accommodate online participation in a capacity that is rewarding for conference attendees, while also feasible and sustainable for conference organizers. CSCW 2025 will feature key changes to the hybrid format from previous years. These changes were informed by prior experiences of those who organized and participated in previous editions of the hybrid format at CSCW and related conferences. 

TL;DR: We will hold an online-only, one-day pre-conference event prior to the in-person conference dates to mitigate technical challenges and support innovative presentation formats and audience engagement. During this event, those who cannot attend the in-person conference will have the opportunity to present their papers. Everyone who has registered for the conference (online or in-person) will be able to attend this event.

Key changes to the hybrid format for paper presentations:

  • Authors will have the option to present their paper online at the pre-conference event.
  • Presentations from online paper presenters will occur on a separate day from the physical conference, scheduled far enough away from the in-person dates so as not to impact travel plans for those attending the in-person conference.
  • Online presentations will be live, not pre-recorded.
  • The presentation length and format for online paper presentations is still being finalized, with the goal of experimenting with new forms of presentation that improve audience engagement. We are keen to provide a transparent social context for the presentations, so that people presenting are not alienated from their audience. Authors and audience members can expect a unique experience compared to traditional in-person presentations.
  • Those attending just the online day will have a reduced conference registration cost. Those who purchase the full in-person conference registration will also be able to attend the online day.

What is and isn’t online

  • The aforementioned online presentation option applies specifically to the papers track (those published in PACM HCI). Presenters for other types of work (e.g., posters, panels, doctoral consortium, workshops) should assume an in-person-only format unless otherwise explicitly stated by the chairs or organizers of the respective track.
  • The only sessions during the in-person conference days that will be livestreamed for online attendees will be those that occur in the main conference hall. These include the opening and closing keynote, panels, and the town hall. 

Why were these changes made

There were three factors driving changes in the hybrid format for CSCW 2025: cost of livestreaming, technical difficulties with livestreaming, and relative enjoyment and utilization of hybrid conference registration. Costs for supporting livestreaming at the conference venue have simply become cost-prohibitive. In addition, we have repeatedly heard about (and experienced) technical difficulties with livestreamed sessions at previous editions of CSCW and related conferences that impacted paper presentations and audience engagement. This often results in an inferior conference experience for online attendees, marred by challenges with interacting with paper presenters and other attendees, and more generally with feeling a sense of community that CSCW is known for. Perhaps as a consequence, utilization of hybrid conference registrations (i.e., online attendance at livestreamed in-person paper sessions) has been consistently low.

What is still being finalized about the CSCW 2025 hybrid format

  • The precise day for online presentations and the precise time(s) when online presentations will occur. We plan to hold the online event during the first half of October with sessions broken up across 24 hours to accommodate presenters and attendees in different time zones.
  • The precise length and format of online paper presentations.
  • The precise cost of online conference registration. The cost will be significantly lower than the registration cost for in-person attendees.
  • Which papers will be presented online (authors can expect an email inquiring about this as we get closer to the conference date).

When will those things be finalized:

We expect to have everything finalized by mid-June, so that people who will not attend in person can plan ahead.

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